I took my LSAT diagnostic at the beginning of July and scored a 168. I have read through Princeton Review and Kaplan LSAT guides (not terribly impressed with either one, especially the former). I've purchased all three Powerscore Bibles (I've only gotten half-way through the logical reasoning bible, and have yet to crack open logic games and RC). Since about mid-July I have been taking a couple of full-length timed PTs each week, and have been making notes about the questions that I have gotten wrong each time.

My problem is that I don't seem to be improving. Barring one PT on which I got a 174 (#38, incidentally) my score has not been getting better. I'm still getting 167-169 most times. I am determined to get at least a 170 on the real deal in October, but I really want to score around a 175 as I'm looking at T14 schools. Also, just to note, I have the next two months to dedicate to LSAT revision with few other distractions (I'm a lucky soul who has moved back home after 6 years so I can focus on preparing for the LSAT).

In terms of LR in particular, when I review the questions that I've missed, in most cases I've narrowed it down to two answers--the credited response and the next most likely candidate (that answer being the one I have gone for). I can usually very quickly see that the credited response was indeed the correct one (the better answer), but I often struggle with why exactly the (incorrect) response I chose was incorrect--and more importantly, how to avoid those traps in the future. One area I have identified as a problem is conditional reasoning--I tend to fall into the mistaken reversal or mistaken negation traps--but I'm still having trouble with devising an effective strategy for improving my score.

What I'm really asking for here is any and all advice that people might have as to how to go up from a score within the high 160s to a solid 175+. Also, how to translate understanding why you got previous questions wrong into not making future mistakes. My instinct is that this isn't a timing issue (or at least not entirely a timing issue), as I took an untimed PT today and still missed 3 questions from each LR and RC.

Ah yes, getting the question down to two answer choices. My advice for such situations, as a person who received a 168 in June but am currently PTing around 175, is to assess the scope of the problem. Doing so should make you realize one answer is wrong and the other answer is TCR.

Good luck to you. You have a great starting point and will most definitely hit 170+ by the time October rolls around.

Also, in all honesty, the RCB is a waste of time. You simply need to do as many RC passages as you can to develop your own personal style of attacking the passages (aka techniques and strategies that work best for you).